Abstract : Two approaches may be followed to obtain damage information from strain measurements: 1) To use multiple sensing points, and to reduce the huge amount of information by pattern recognition techniques, as PCA. (companion paper) 2) To use distributed sensing (OFDR of backscattered radiation), placing the plain optical fibre at the region where damage is expected. Because of its simplicity, this approach is very robust, and even its local nature, similar to the VCM, it may be of interest in some applications, like stringer debonding, or for identifying local damage by impacts around man-holes. One advantage of this approach compared to the former one, is that the structure does not need to be under load, it measures the residual strains caused by the damage. Several experiments, done on real aeronautic composite parts, are presented, quantifiying the POD, robustness and applicability of the technique.